Chuck for coupling roll cores to a driven winding shaft



Jan. 3, 1956 T. c. KRAMER 9,

" CHUCK FOR COUPLING ROLL CORES TO A DRIVEN WINDING SHAFT Filed Oct. 20, 1953 INVENTOR ii/wdam 6. Aim 11w! way/0, Kidd/w ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 2,729,402 Pa.tented Jan. 3, 1956 CHUCK FOR COUPLING ROLL CORES TO A DRIVEN WINDING SHAFT Theodore C. Kramer, Richmond, Va.

Application October 20, 1953, Serial No. 387,159

3 Claims. (Cl. 242-42) This invention relates to expansible chucks for coupling the hollow core or reel upon which sheet material is to be wound to form a roll, to the driven winding shaft passing through said core, automatically through the initial driving torque of said winding shaft transmitted to said chucks.

In a number of industries sheet material, such for example as paper or thin gauge metal, is shipped from the place of manufacture in the form of a continuous strip or skelp, wound into a roll of great weight and length, about a suitable hollow cylindrical, core. The core may become a unitary part of the roll,'but frequently it is collapsible and removed from the roll in collapsed form, being retained asfpart of the winding apparatus.

The length of the roll is frequently fourteen feet or more, and the bearings which support the winding shaft must necessarily be spaced apart a greater distance than the length of the roll. Where the latter is of great length, its Weight as itnears completion, imposes a great burden upon the unsupported part of the shaft bridged between the bearings, producing a sag in the shaft. The core is coupled to the shaft by a pair of chucks, one inserted in each end, and expanded so as to jam against the insidev of the core. Conventional chucks in many instances include an integral portion journaled completely around the shaft. When so jammed, the integral journal portions of the conventional chucks are in rigid coaxial alignment. The sag in the shaft causes whipping of the shaft as it rotates, which, is destructive to the integral journal portions of such chucks. Other conventional chucks have hinged jaws which lift in one direction only, and are subject to the weakness that in the event the winding shaft should suddenly stop, the continued rotation of the roll of material under its fly wheel inertia would bring pres-' sure to bear between the chuck jaws adjacentthehinge pintle, frequently resulting in breakage of the pintle.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a chuck-which is' characterized by the absence of portion freely extending into said recess so that the chuck is in collapsed form when inserted in the end of the core, and contacted by the fiat face of the winding shaft upon initial rotation of the latter, whereby'the halves of the chuck are relatively spaced apart, making jammed engagement with-the inner wall of the core.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the fol- I lowing-description of a practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms apart of the following specification, and throughout the figures of 2 which the same reference characters have been applied to identical parts:

Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation, partly in section, and with the intermediate part broken away, showing the winding shaft, the core thereupon, the chucks of the present invention in jammed relation to the core, and a partly wound roll of sheet material on the core;

Figure 2 is a view in cross-section, taken along the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a similar view in cross-section, showing the chuck in released position with respect to the core, and indicating the clamp collar which limits endwise movement of the chuck;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of that chuck jaw having the inwardly directed cam portion;

'Figure 5 is a view in cross-section, taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numeral 1, Figure 1, represents that portion of a driven winding shaft which bridges the space between supporting bearings, not shown. In zones which are preferably equidistant from the middle of said bridging portion, the shaft is provided with longitudinally extending recesses 2, in the same phase of angular displacement, having similar fiat faces 3 in a common plane parallel to the axis of the shaft.

The core 4 which forms'the nucleus of the roll is a tubular member which may be made of any suitable material such as laminated paper or metal, which is slipped upon the shaft when the latter has been tilted upward at one end with respect to its bearings, to permit the application of the core thereto.

The chucks 5, which are inserted in the opposite end of the core, are alike so that they are interchangeably usable at the right or left end of the core. Each comprises a tubular body having its inner end 6 tapered for easy insertion into the core, having an intermediate cylindrical portion 7 normally making a free fit within the core, and an outwardlyextended flange 8 at its outer end adapted to abut the adjacent end of the core. Said body is completely divided in a plane embracing its axis to form a pair of cooperating chuck jaws 9 and 10, which in the normal contracted phase of said chuck, make mutual contact in their plane of separation. The jaw it is formed with a recess 11, extending longitudinally therethrough, of uniform cylindrical curvature, having substantially the same diameter as the diameter of the shaft 1, adapting it to fit about said shaft. The jaw 9 is similarly recessed, except that in the intermediate region of its recess it is formed with a cam portion 12, extending longitudinally therethrough and projecting radially inward, and being of uniform convex transverse crosssection throughout. The chucks 5 are adapted to embrace the shaft 1 in the zones of the recess 2, with the cam portions 12 received in said recesses. The height of said cam portions is such that they exert no pressure against the flat faces 3 of said recesses when the chords of said cam portions are parallel to said faces. Prefer ably, the cam portions when in this position relative to the faces 3, are out of contact with said faces.

Referring to Figure 3, the chuck is shown in the released position referred to. The center of the arc of the cam 12 may be slightly out of contact with the fiat face 3, but when the shaft 1 starts to rotate, almost immediately the flat face will come into contact with the cam so that the jaw 9 is then supported by said fiat face along its line of tangency with said face and is free to oscillate in either direction, but since the line of tangency is a little to one side of the center line of said cam at that time, the jaw 9 is slightly unbalanced and rests with one side in contact with the adjacent side of the jaw 10, the other sides of the jaws being slightly apart. Until the jaws grip the core of the roll, the jaw 9 can be freely oscillated to bring either side into contact with the corresponding side of the other jaw with no more application of force than just sufficient to overcome the unbalance of the jaw 9 with respect to its tangential fulcrum. It is notable that there is no wedging action at any time between the jaws, merely the abutment of the adjacent sides of said jaws.

As the shaft continues to turn, the jaws are forced apart at one side to bring the intermediate portions of their exterior surface into gripping pressure against the roll core, but even when the core is tightly gripped, there is no wedging engagement between the sides of the jaws that are in contact. Consequently, when reversal in the relative direction of movement between the shaft and roll takes place, whether designedly or through interruption in the drive of the shaft, release will be practically instantaneous.

The two jaws may be regarded as full floating, since not only are they altogether structurally unconnected, out when under gripping pressure between the jaws and the roll, either of the pair of adjacent sides come into contact. Both can recede, from the inception of the gripping pressure until the core is fully gripped, thus dampening the impact thrust transmitted from the side of one jaw to that of the other.

Due to the substantially instant release and re-engagement of the chuck with the roll core upon relative reversal in the direction of movement of the shaft and roll, there is substantially no back lash.

it is obvious that when the matching jaws of the chuck are placed in embracing relationship to the shaft in the zone of one of the recesses 2, with the chord of the cam portion 12 parallel to the corresponding face 3, the clutch is in contacted phase and can readily be inserted in the adjacent end of the core to the limit allowed by the abutting of the flange 12 against the end of the core. The recesses 2 are preferably longer than the chucks, so as to give some range of lengthwise adjustment for the chucks to accommodate the apparatus to cores of different length.

Detachable clamp collars 13 embrace the shaft in the zones of the recesses 2, which may be adjustably fixed, with slight clearance at the adjacent ends of the inserted chucks to prevent longitudinal wandering of the roll upon the shaft during the winding operation. Said clamp collars are alike, one being shown in detail in Figure 5. It has an opening 14 in one side, the sides of said open ing being parallel and spaced apart a distance equal to the diameter of the shaft, that is, the diameter prependicular to the face 3. Rearwardly of the mouth of the opening 14, the clamp collar is recessed to conform to the shape of that part of the shaft which it closely embraces, having a fiat portion 15 coinciding with the face 3, and a curved portion 16 against which the cylindrical portion of the shaft seats. Laterally of the mouth of the opening 14, at opposite sides thereof, the clamp collar has the perforated cars 17 and 18, the perforation through the former being smooth and that through the latter threaded. A bolt 19 passes freely through the car 17 and threads into the ear 18 for tightening the clamp collar about the shaft. Resilience is imparted to the'clarnp collar through the provision of the slot 20, which reduces the thickness of the collar on that side opposite the opening 14.

In operation, the end of the sheet or skelp is first fixed with respect to the core 4 in any suitable manner. Then the winding shaft 1 is started. As the flat face 3 of the shaft inclines with respect to the cam portions 12, the latter are engaged by said fiat portions, the jaws of the chucks being thus pushed apart and in jammed relation to the core which takes up the rotary movement of the shaft.

The chuck of the present invention is particularly designed to be used in the winding of the long rolls which may become extremely heavy as they grow toward completion, and which, due to the length of the bridging por* tion of the shaft 1, cause the latter to sag, producing whipping of the parts of the shaft confined within the chucks. Since both of the jaws of the chuck are structurally completely independent one of the other, and no integral part of either completely surrounds the shaft, they are free to move in any direction, and relative to one another, under the whipping thrust of the shaft, both in directions away from one another and in planes parallel to their plane of separation, thus avoiding breakage which plagues other types of chuck when used under similar conditions.

While I have in the above description disclosed a practical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific details of construction and arrangement of parts as shown, are by way of example and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for winding sheet material in a roll about a hollow core, of the type which includes a driven winding shaft having longitudinally spaced recesses with fiat faces, between which the core is mounted on said shaft, a chuck for coupling the core and shaft responsive to relative rotation between said chuck and shaft in either direction, said chuck comprising an annular body member insertable within an end of said core, completely divided in an axial plane into independently movable jaws, one having a semi-bore therethrough of uninterrupted cylindrical curvature to fit the shaft, the other having a semibore therethrough of cylindrical curvature to fit the shaft, adjacent its lateral faces, and being formed with an intermediate longitudinal cam portion of uniformly convex cross-section interrupting the curvature of said semi-bore adapted to project into one of said recesses when said jaws are brought together about said shaft in the zone of said recess, said cam portion being of such height as to roll upon the corresponding fiat face responsive to relative rotation between said shaft and chuck in either direction, for spreading said jaws.

2. Chuck as claimed in claim 1, said jaws each carrying at one end a peripheral flange, forming a stop to abut the end of the roll and thereby limit the extent of insertion of said chuck.

3. In apparatus for winding sheet material in a roll about a hollow core, of the type which includes a driven winding shaft having longitudinally spaced recesses with flat faces, between which the core is mounted on said shaft, a chuck for coupling the core and shaft responsive to relative rotation between said chuck and shaft in either direction, said chuck comprising an annular body member insertable within an end of said core, completely divided in an axial plane into independently movable jaws, one having a semi-bore therethrough of cylindrical curvature to fitthe shaft, adjacent its lateral faces, and being formed with an intermediate longitudinal cam portion of uniformly convex cross-section interrupting the curvature of said semi-bore adapted to project into one of said recesses when said jaws are brought together about said shaft in the zone of said recess, said cam portion being of such height as to roll upon the corresponding flat face responsive to relative rotation between said shaft and chuck in either direction, for spreading said jaws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 799,912 Masterson Sept. 19, 1905 1,115,057 Delaney Oct. 27, 1914 1,597,568 Bandy Aug. 24, 1926 1,858,753 Taylor May 17 1932 2,657,874 Taylor Nov. 3, 1953 

